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New tech to look forward to this year

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Each year, you probably spend a lot of money on modern tech and gadgets, and when something happens to them, at best it’s an inconvenience, and at worse, it eats up your hard-earned time to get them replaced or fixed. That’s why Dialdirect makes it easy to get online insurance quotes, so that you can get all of your devices covered as soon as you buy them and enjoy them stress-free.

So now that you know you can get online insurance quotes anywhere, anytime, we’re taking a look at what kind of tech and gadgets you can look forward to over the next 12 months, from smartphones, to cars, to gadgets.

Smartphones

It seems that our beloved hand-held devices are going to become an even greater extension of ourselves this year:

As always, there is much mystery surrounding the upcoming iPhone 7, which will likely be announced in September. Yes it’s still quite a way away, but where’s the fun if we can’t speculate on some of its new features?

When it comes to performance, we’ll most likely see iOS 10, and there is some talk about an entirely new look, although it’s likely to still come in the Rose Gold, Silver, Gold, and Space Grey colours. There’s the hope that Apple will increase the resolution to be more on par with some of its competitors, and we might also see a bigger screen size.

In true Apple style, there may be some shakeups where older hardware will no longer be compatible, the most likely place being with the headphone jack, which could shrink down to a patented 2mm thickness, known as the ‘D Jack’.

Further, the iPhone 7 could also be shooting water out of its speaker grills. Yes, you read that correctly. Supposedly, it’s part of a waterproofing process that would help the phone to dry itself if it gets wet.

Finally, an advancement that is inevitable in all upcoming smartphones that we may see for the first time in the iPhone 7 is an e-SIM, which will make it much easier to change carriers, move from pre-paid to contract, and upgrade phones.[2]

The speculation around the new Samsung isn’t as detailed as that of the new iPhone, but there are still a few titbits we can sink our teeth into.

Samsung fans can rejoice that they probably won’t have to wait too long for the release of the new S7 smartphone, which is slated for release in the first quarter of this year. Actually, it seems that phone users could look forward to two new models, likely the S7 and the S7 Edge.

The screen isn’t expected to change much and it will probably retain the fingerprint scanner, but it will probably come with Android Marshmallow, so you can expect a longer battery life.[5]

Cars

Tesla Model X

Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has set his electric-car sights even higher with the recent unveiling of the four-wheel drive SUV, the Tesla Model X. The company says it’s the safest SUV ever made, a claim that has so far been backed up by safety tests.[6]

It also has some fantastic, futuristic doors (as if being powered by electricity isn’t cool enough). It can detect which door you’re looking at and will open it up for you, all hands-free. Just imagine: if you have a hard time getting the kids into the car, the Falcon Wing doors will wow them into wanting to climb into the back all the time. The doors also have sensors in them to make sure they don’t bash into any low roofs that you park under.

Nothing can escape innovation and advancement anymore, not even the humble light bulb. For over a hundred years, light bulbs have done exactly what it says on the box, but a company called Sengled is changing the function of them with what they call ‘smart lighting’. They offer a number of lighting solutions, such as their Pulse range, which also functions as a wireless speaker, the Boost, which doubles as a Wi-Fi booster, and Snap, which takes photos and videos. And all you need to control these is your smart device and the Sengled app.

Quell is a new product that we can expect to see more of this year. It’s a band worn around the leg just below the knee that helps people with chronic pain manage their discomfort without the use of drugs. It works by stimulating the sensory nerves that carry signals to your brain, which then triggers a response that blocks pain signals in your body.